Saturday, August 23, 2014

Recently had the MD for regular service . These machines have no oil filter and oil change intervals are at 50 hrs. Noticed the head gasket was weeping out oil . I had posted on twitter about the repair at the 236 hr mark . Received a few favorites and questions about if it was covered under warranty or why I was doing the repair .We it's like this . The dealer is a good 3.5 hrs. away and I enjoy my job so much and organised enough that I'm willing to do the warranty repairs myself . Under the direction of Bill at Veseys they are usually fairly easy repairs . Believe me it has it's perks most of the time .

Not quit blown head gasket but soon .

Really like the spring clip set up on the exhaust .

Made removal very easy .

You can leave this part of exhaust manifold on .

Carburetor was just as easy to remove leaving all the cables attached .

I wrapped a rag around it to keep dirt out till assembly .

Next turn engine till you see that both rocker arms have play . Then remove the pin that holds them in place . Easy design on the Yamaha engine . No clips etc. the valve covers is what holds the pin in place .

Lay the parts out in such a way that you can assemble them back in the same location .

I have a heavy flat bar that is used with med emery cloth to evenly remove gasket material . I noticed the cylinder was ever so slightly of in the blown gasket area . I kept removing material in 8 different directions till it all looked flush .

Head looked pretty good . To make sure it's flat and square I use my bench plate with a large piece of emery cloth and work the head against it in a figure eight pattern . Ready for assembly .

You can see the guides in valve cover that hold the rocker arm pin in place. So simple .

Assemble in reverse order . I did torque the head down carefully to 15 ft.lbs. first then to 36 ft. lbs. Always torque in a cross bolt pattern .

I did notice that the head shield has tabs to hold the valve cover gasket in place . Also there is one longer bolt for the dip stick tube side on valve cover . Took it for a run and it worked great . No leaks.1.5 to 2 hrs . taking your time and keeping things clean and organized. Over all not a bad job and can be done in the machine .

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The newer 4300D always had an oil film on the section pumps . I posted on Golftechs asking for the torque specs . to see if the bolts where in spec .

After remove the front bracing I had found the problem.Stud was snapped off flush with section valve .

Looks like it has been this way for a while . Apparently this happens fairly often .You may want to check your 4300 . Bolt kit was in stock at Veseys and where sent out next day.

First I drain the hydraulic oil tank . I keep a few empty pails sealed just for this reason . Would hate to loose or contaminate the oil before its due to be changed . I drained a good 35 liters out .

Mark the lines to section pumps . I let the inside wrench rest on the nut so it made hose removal easy . Remove all the lines .

Then use the Allan key and an wrench for better leverage to get the 2 bolts out that hold the section pumps to hydraulic pump .

Pump just pulls out there is an O ring on the end or in the pump .

Here is what it looks like with it removed .

Put the unit in the vice to hold for repair. The idea is not to move the sections out of place while the bolts and studs are out .

Picture with end cap removed . You can see the broken stud now and can be removed with vice grips .

Stud should come out fairly easy.

End cap. Keep everything clean when assembling .

I torqued the studs and bolts in two stages 15 ft.lbs. then 33

Ready for install.

Well almost . One of the bolts were longer ? The other one sits flush with bottom plate .

Trimmed it off with a cut off wheel . Then installed the new seal .

Pumps back in ready for lines to be hooked up I used a dab of sealer for hoses . I installed the front support bracket before hoses .

Done . Refill the hydraulic oil tank then start machine a let idle for 15 minutes . Check for leaks . Take your time and keep everything clean while doing this job . Over all fairly easy . Might have lost 100 ml of oil. 1 to 1.5 hours job.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Recently our sidewinder flipped over in a trap . After getting it going and running for a while I noticed a leak under the machine . The ram may have bent and a new one was ordered . This hydraulic ram can not be rebuilt .

New part arrived today ready for install . It was about an hour job having to free up a few parts .

Take the left wheel off .The left step plate has to be removed to get the pins out .

Access plate on top same side also will have to be removed to get at hydro lines and nuts .

You can just see it tucked in pretty good behind framing .

Pin for ram being removed . The pin to the right will also have to be removed.

Reaching through the access panel I was able to remove the lines . Cap them off to keep oil in and dirt out . Remember where they go .

I had to work on this pin a bit to get it out . The lock tab was also broken off and needed welding . it also has a cir-clip on the bottom .

Next..... if unbolt these 4 bolts you can just slide bracket and ram out . Be careful not to damage the threads for hydraulic lines .

Exchange parts to the new one on the bench . This pin also has a cir-clip . I don't think the pin can be removed on the machine .While exchanging parts I noticed a fair amount of wear which will be recorded and fixed this winter .

Reassemble in reverse order .

Over all fairly easy... just takes some patients to get all the parts and ram to slide back in and lined up .

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Sprayers are used more and more on golf courses . We have 2 of them here and older 2001 and the Windfoiled 2011 Toro 1250. Last week they were both out of service temperately . Thanks to Bill and the crew at Veseys we were up and running in no time .

After removing the old part ,the kit came with a couple of shims to go over bolts .

15 minute job from start to finish . Ready to hook it all back together.

And done . Now to take it over to wash rake and half fill the tank . The tank pressure and boom pressure will have to be adjusted .

She's ready to work . The spray tech get a laugh because I call this one the USS Enterprise ( Star Trek) because of it size with the windfoils .

The Old sprayer received a new electric pump clutch .

Runs much quieter. Looks like a tight spot but after removing a few nuts on the coupler and four more for the pump ( remove pump ) it gave lots of room to work . Have a lift really speeds this type of work up . About a 1/2 to an hour job .

Both are up and ready .

Losing more staff every week , Seasons starting to wind down a little . It will time to start thinking of aerating and fall projects .

The sidewinder developed a leak on the ram that controls the side to side movement of decks .

Should be in soon . Still usable . The rod must have bent a little after the last mishap.

Hopefully will be getting the forecasted rain the irrigation pond sure could use it .